Our fresh takes on policing this week

NAACP president Derrick Johnson on the criminal justice reform efforts occurring in Senate and whether there is hope for the Grassley-Durbin bill that is being refined.
USA TODAY

News and opinion from outlets across the country culled by Policing the USA

Police walk through a cloud of smoke and tear gas as they clash with protesters during 2014 demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri. The treatment of protesters in Ferguson prompted many to call for an end to the use of military equipment by police departments.(Photo: Jeff Roberson/AP)

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Trump touts more protections for cops. But are they really needed?

President Donald Trump, who recently lauded the bi-partisan FIRST STEP Act in a push to solidify criminal justice reform, seems to be returning to his tough-on-crime conservative roots.

On Friday, at a Kansas City police conference, Trump called for the death penalty for people who kill police officers, and touted his administration's distribution of more than $600 million worth of military equipment to law enforcement agencies across the country.

It's equipment "the previous administration would not allow you to have," Trump said during a speech at the Project Safe Neighborhoods National Conference. "They didn't like it because it made you look too strong. And I liked it because it made you safe."

These comments, which aren't new for the Trump administration, have a history of dividing the country.

Opponents of militarized police forces state that the use of such equipment makes neighborhoods, especially those of color, less safe — something seen during 2014 demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, after the death of Michael Brown.

Trump also stated that the use of the death penalty "will protect those who protect us. And we will believe the right punishment ... for cop-killers is called the death penalty."

It seems odd to say that something positive could have come out of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. — that divisive, violent demonstration that included the death of Heather Heyer at the hands of James Alex Fields Jr., who drove his car into a sea of protesters (and who was found guilty of murder last week). But something positive did, and it also happened in the town of Charlottesville.

A reading program brought more than 1,000 students together to discuss the book "The Hate U Give" (recently released as a movie), which delves deeply into issues of police brutality, race and the justice system through the eyes of a high school student.

Charlottesville High School librarian Anne Ernst helped organize Cville OneBook (which included students from three area high schools) to unify the community as a direct response to the 2017 rally, according to a report in The Daily Progress.

The book's author Angie Thomas also participated in the discussion, stating that the event gives her "hope for the rest of the country."

Even though New York passed legislation in 2015 and is among the more than a dozen states that prohibit the shackling of pregnant inmates, a woman filed suit last week for the treatment described as "dehumanizing" and "cruel."

She gave birth in February, and the officers who transported her to the Montefiore Medical Center initially refused to unshackle her arms and legs. After an hour of labor, according to a New York Times report, they partially unshackled the woman.

Officers stated that they were following policy, and the suit seeks, among other things, a change in law enforcement protocol.

For more information on the lawsuit, and allegations of treatment against the police department, read the story in The New York Times.

Want more? Check out the Policing the USA site for information on police, policing and the justice system across the country.

Want to talk about police, race and the justice system in America? Reach out to Policing the USA editor Eileen Rivers on Twitter @msdc14 or via email at erivers@usatoday.com.